Handheld oscillating power tools that perform sawing and other types of cutting are known and are used in a wide variety of applications. For example, oscillating saws can be used to cut openings in drywall for the insertion of outlet boxes and/or to cut openings in flooring material for the insertion of floor vents. Such oscillating tools generally have a motor with an oscillating shaft that extends from a nose portion that is configured to have various accessories or attachment devices, like different saw blades, mounted thereon.
As is known in the art, cutting openings in drywall can be a tedious and time consuming task due to the need for the opening to have a precise shape and size. To provide an opening that will accept the outlet box or floor vent mounted within it and to enable a pleasant aesthetic when a face plate or cover is attached, the opening should consist of two sets of parallel cuts of particular lengths. Cutting two independent parallel lines requires each line to be measured precisely to ensure that they will be parallel with one another. Additionally, because the lines are being cut in a wall or a floor, the position of each line relative to the rest of the wall or floor must also be measured precisely to ensure that the opening will be in the desired location.
As shown in FIG. 5, previously known methods of using an oscillating tool to cut such openings may require a large number of independent actions to be performed. First, the user must measure and mark the first corner of the desired opening including measuring and marking both an x-direction component (10) and a y-direction component (14). The user must repeat the same steps to measure and mark the x-direction component (18) and the y-direction component (22) for the second corner, to measure and mark the x-direction component (26) and the y-direction component (30) for the third corner, and to measure and mark the x-direction component (34) and the y-direction component (38) for the fourth corner of the desired opening. Each corner must be measured and marked in both the x-direction and the y-direction to ensure that the lines cut between the corners will be parallel to one another and parallel to the sides and edges of the wall or floor in which the opening is being cut so that the resulting opening is aligned and positioned as desired on the wall or floor. Then, the user must separately make each of the first cut (42), the second cut (46), the third cut (50), and the fourth cut (54) to form the resulting opening.
While this known method is effective for cutting the desired openings in drywall and/or flooring materials, it requires the user to perform several actions, which is tedious and time consuming. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide an improved tool and method for cutting such openings which are more convenient, efficient, and easy to use.